Stock support



May 7, 1957 D. H. MONTGOMERY ET AL STOCK SUPPORT 3 5 9 l 2 M m a J d e l i F L G I F I! I {Juanav w w FIG. 3.

IN VEN TORS DONALD H MONTGOMERY CLARENCE D, POL-90 51? United States STOCK- SUPPORT Donald H'. Montgomery and Clarence D. Pulsifer, Farmington',--C6nn assignors to The-New Britain Machine Company,=:New-Britain, Cnn. ,.a., corporation of Connecticut Application January 14, 1953, Serial No. 331,222

8*Claims. (Cl.203'60) -Ourinvention relates to a stock support, as for use in feeding an automatic-turret lathe or the like.

In small shops of the kind in: which single-spindleautomatic turret lathes are frequently used-space is most often at a premiums As a result, it is usually inconvenient and; in many cases, impossible to provide a very long stock'reelto supply stock to the mechanism. With theseainst-allations, the stocklreel is permanently aligned withwthe lathe'spindl'e, andit'isnecessary to provide behind' thewmachineai. e. back of the stock reel-on the side awayfrom the machine, a freespace equal to the length of 'a-pieceof'bar stock in order to permit loading. In any-shop, this space may' bewritten off as waste space. Also; because of the fixed nature 'ofithe alignment of the stock :tube, the piece ofs-tock must be lifted into'positionlin one operation; with heavy stock, this may require twoamemmorat'least cause a severe strain on one man who must lift the entire piece all at once.

lI-l is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide an improvedstockwreel of the character indicated- Another object is to provide a. stock reel adaptable to acter indicated 'iniwhich loadingtmay be effected alongside the turret lathevor'other'machine being supplied from the stock reel, rather than from beyond the end of the stock reel;

Specifically, it is an object to meet theabove objects with a simple and rugged construction:sacrificing no accuracy'of alignment and yet greatly simplifying loading, from the operators standpoint, and economizing on shop space.

Other objectstand various further features'of novelty and invention will become apparent or will occur to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in'conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In said drawings, which show, for illustrative purposes only, a preferred form of the invention:

Fig.; 1 a simplified view" in' elevation illustrating 21 6Q stock reel incorporating features of the invention and shown in position to supply stock to an automatic turret lathe;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end view of one of the supports for the stock reel of Fig. 1, as viewed from. a section 5 denoted by the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig.3 is a fragmentary end view of a part of the other support-for'the stock reel of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 'isa sectional'view in the plane 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Briefly stated; our invention contemplates an improved stock reel comprising a stock-supporting member with means for removably holding the same in its working po- Patented May 7, 1957 sition, i. e. in positionto support stock in alignment with the spindle 'coll'et or'other work-supporting member'of the machine tube supplied by the stock reel. The stocksupporting member may be a tube supported at two spaced locations. At the location-more-remot-e from the machine, the support may be relatively fixed except for some provision for angular-freedom of movement of the tube with respect to such support. The other support-may include-a detachablemeans whereby, when desired, as to facilitate loading, the 'machin-e end of the tube may be moved or freed for movement to one side of and downwardly from its normal alignment axis.

Referring to Fig. 1, our invention is shown in application to a stock reel' for the support of elongated bar stock to-tbe supplied to the spindle 10 ohm automatic machine tool, such as the turret lathe 11. The lathe ll mayinelude a chucking means or collet 12, hollowed to'receive stock-internally and tosupport a small length '13 thereof inawonking position near tools (not shown) carried by tool slides which may include an indexible turret 14. Lathe 11 may be-of the type disclosed in greater detail in the copending patent application of Montgomery et al., Serial No. 196,108, filed November 17, 1950.

In accordinace with the invention,- the stock-supporting means 16 of th'e stock' reel is-readily movably supported, withlmeans for quick disconnection and removal of one end thereof, so as to dispose the same for more simplified 'stock'loading. The stock-supporting means 16 may be a tube of-internal diameter freely to support the maximum stock size accommodated by the'machine 11, and, if desired, the tube 16 may have an internal construction as describedin detail in our copending patent application, tiled on evendate herewith. A first end-supporting means or pedestal 17 may provide a permanent reference for the rear end of the stock tube 16, and we prefer that the connection between these members he universal or angularly flexible, as provided by a ball-andsock-et joint. The pedestal 17 may be firmly tied to the machine 11 by means of an elongated frame member 18, shown. anchored at 19 'to the outboard or spindle frame of -the machine. 11. We prefer that the frame member 18} beoriented parallel to the axis of spindle 10 and, to elevate the rear end of tube .1 6 for alignment of the stock with the lathe spindle, we provide pedestal 17 with adjustable jacking means 2&- The other or removable support means 21 for the machine end of the stock tube 16 may be suspended from the frame member 18, as shown.

The angularly flexible means for supporting the tube 16 at the pedestal 17 may derive its limited angular freedom from the flexing of a resilient rubber or rubber-like washer 22, shown clamped by a ring 23 to a radial flange on a collar or sleeve 24,-slidable along the stock tube 16. The degree of sliding movement available to sleeve 24 is preferably limited to'the extent necessary to protect the flexible suspension against the undue axial shock when the tube 16 is moved, as when loading a new length at stock; in theform shown, a pin 25 carried by sleeve 24 engages a limited slot 26 in a strap 27, carried by a fixed collar 28 at the rear end of the stock tube 16; and spring means 29 serves to urge the tube to its rear-most extent, as limited by the forward end of the slot 26. The flexible washer 22 is preferably secured circumferentially both to the flange of sleeve 24 and to the pedestal 17, and for thispurpose the pedestal 17 is formed with a supporting rigid framework 30 surrounding the sleeve 24. The washer- 22 itself maybe permanently bonded both to sleeve 24 and to a removable frame 31, having a central opening 32, so that if a flexible support should wear out, a new washer 22 bonded to a new sleeve 24 and frame 31 niay-be-quickly bolted and adjustably elevated in place,

as bybolts' 33 securedto'the pedestal frame 30;

The detachable supporting means 21 is shown to include a relatively fixed member 35 suspended from the elongated frame member 18. Four set screws 3637- 3839 permit accurate location of the fixed member 35 with respect to the frame 18 and, once the accurate location has been determined, lock nuts may securely hold the adjustment. The fixed member 35 is preferably characterized by a laterally open mouth 49, which, when closed, may hold the stock tube 16 in a predetermined position of spindle alignment (i. e. in which stock with tube 16 is aligned with the spindle axis); in Fig. 2, the tube 16 is shown in sectioned solid outline in the position of spindle alignment. To hold the position shown, the detachable support 21 may include a movable member, such as the arm 41, which may be pivoted at 42 to the member 35, below and slightly to one side of the alignment axis of the stock tube 16 when in properly supported position. Latch means 43 with a handle 43' may hold the arm 41 in its raised position so as to retain the stock tube 16.

When it is desired to load the stock tube, latch means 43 may be released, and arm 41 will drop and assume the downwardly sloping position suggested by the phantom outline 44 in Fig. 2. A chain or other holding means 45 may retain the arm 41 when in its downward position, at which time the downwardly sloping lower side 40 of the mouth 40 will allow tube 16 to slide out of its aligned position and down along arm 41 until stopped by the upturned end 46 of arm 41; the outline 16' in Fig. 2 suggests the position of tube 16 when dropped and misaligned.

In use, the described device will perform as any other stock reel as long as the tube 16 is loaded and in alignment with the spindle axis. When, however, the -back end of an almost consumed piece of stock clears the front end of the stock tube 16, the operator will be reminded to release latch 43 so as to drop the stock tube to the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 1. In this position, the tube 16 will be sloping downwardly toward the machine 11 and laterally away from it. (It will be understood that the detachable or removable support means 21 may face either as shown or in the reverse direction, depending on the side of the machine 11 on which it may be most convenient from which to load stock.) The stock will have been laid, as at 48, alongside of the load ing side of the machine 11 so that the operator need only lift one end (and, therefore, only one-half of the weight of the piece of stock) in order to rest that end inside the machine end of the stock tube 16; at such time, the stock may be sloped, as suggested by the phantom outlines 49, more or less in accordance with the slope of the detached stock tube 16. The operator must then lift the other end of the stock and push it up the gentle incline of tube 16 until the machine end of the piece of stock will safely clear the machine. The arm 41 may then be raised, as by elevating the actuating handle 50, and the natural result of this operation will be to slide the stock tube back into its properly aligned position for direct feeding of the stock to spindle 10. 7

It will be seen that we have described a relatively simple mechanism characterized by operating convenience and by economy of space requirements. With a stock reel of the kind described, it is possible to operate a given size machine more etficiently within limited space; alternatively, an even larger stock reel may be provided for the accommodation of longer stock lengths in a given shop space, thus requiring less frequent stock loading.

While we have described our invention in detail for the preferred form shown, it will be understood that modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims which follow.

We claim:

1. In a stock support of the character indicated, fixed elongated frame means for fixed generally horizontal alignment parallel to a horizontal machine axis, a stock tube beneath said elongated frame means, and two spaced support means depending from said frame means and for supporting said tube in general alignment with said axis, one of said support means including an angularly flexible connection, and the other of said support means including a detachably securable guide for said stock tube, said guide sloping downwardly and laterally of said axis when in detached position, whereby when desired one end of said tube may be removed from a generally aligned relation to said axis and downwardly and laterally deflected away therefrom, as to facilitate stock loading.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which said detachable connection includes a fixedly supported member anchored to said elongated frame means and having a laterally open mouth for reception of said tube when in aligned position, and in which said guide is selectably movable to close off and to open said mouth.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which said guide includes an abutment at the outer end thereof facing upwardly for retention of the misaligned tube when in detached position.

4. In a stock support of the character indicated, an elongated stock tube, two spaced support means for orienting said tube in general horizontal alignment with a horizontal machine axis, one of said support means including an angularly flexible connection; the other of said support means comprising selectively detachably removable means retaining part of said tube in said general alignment in a first position, and retaining said part of said tube in a location downwardly and laterally displaced from said axial alignment in a second position thereof, whereby in said second position said tube may slope downwardly toward a floor and away from the side of the machine so as to reduce the lifting distance required for loading one end of a new piece of stock into said tube.

5. In a stock support, an elongated stock tube, two spaced supports for orienting said tube in general horizontal alignment with a horizontal machine axis, one of said supports including an angularly flexible connection; the other of said supports comprising a fixed tube-locating notch open to one lateral side of the vertical plane of said alignment, a guide arm pivoted on a generally longitudinal axis below said notch, said guide arm having a first position closing said notch and locking said tube therein, said guide arm having a second position sloping downwardly and laterally of said axis on the lateral side on which said notch is open, and means detachably re taining said arm when in said first and second positions.

6. A stock support according to claim 5, in which said notch includes a lower tube-supporting side sloping downwardly and laterally in the general direction of said arm when in said second position.

7. A stock support according to claim 5, in which said arm includes a tube-retaining abutment near the end thereof remote from the pivot for said arm.

8. A stock support according to claim 5, in which the tube-supporting end of said arm when in said second position is at substantially one half the elevation of the flexible connection of said one support, whereby upon raising one end of a piece of stock from the floor and inserting the same in the lowered end of the tube, the stock will be substantially aligned with the tube for more ready insertion therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,065,088 Victory June 17, 1913 1,188,932 Grifiith .lune 27, 1916 2,003,152 Lange May 28, 1935 2,062,727 Rich Dec. 1, 1936 2,523,741 Weschler Sept. 26, 1950 

